Risk Reduction in Transport System in Emergency Conditions: A Framework for Evacuation Planning

Abstract

Emergency planning is part of the broader disaster management cycle that, at the international level, is identified with the following keywords: prevention; mitigation or prevention; preparedness; response; recovery. The paper focuses on preparedness and in particular on the planning process for ordinary and extraordinary conditions. The specific focus is on the evacuation planning process. In the last years, the United Nations (UN) and European Commission (EC) dedicated a great effort to pursue disaster risk reduction. At aiming this goal, UN and EC promote frameworks to orient the urban emergency planning process. Despite the European addresses, there is no uniformity of approaches for evacuation planning adopted by the Countries. This paper proposes a framework for evacuation planning at the urban scale, with a focus on passenger mobility. The proposed framework integrates theories produced by science, rules produced by laws and implementation in real cases. Planning, training, exercises and evaluation tools are the main elements of the framework that work to reduce risk. Some elements of the Italy case study will be presented.

An Overview on Decision Support Systems for Risk Management in Emergency Conditions: Present, Past and Future Trends

“…According to the nature of the event, the risk factor reduction may be implemented through prevention measures (work on probability); or protection measures to reduce magnitude (both on vulnerability and exposure). Moreover, authors as highlighted the possibility of limiting exposure through evacuation operating on the: transport system demand [6]; evacuation plans in emergency conditions [7], as well as on logistics operations (placing inventory management, rescue vehicles and teams) increasing both response and recovery phases. Furthermore, the transport system analysis in emergency conditions requires the identification of the process (emergency strategy) to be followed to reduce the effects that limit network operating conditions [8,9].…”

Research on the Evacuation Characteristics of Cruise Ship Passengers in Multi-Scenarios

“…Planning can avoid or minimize the impact of emergencies by building a safe and sustainable environment. The planning approach helps to reduce risks and enhance emergency preparedness through exercises [46]. However, the stay time of passengers on the ship is short, and there is a lack of adequate exercise opportunities.…”

Experimental Study on Panic during Simulated Fire Evacuation Using Psycho- and Physiological Metrics

“…Another group of components concerns the properties of the evacuees. Mental states certainly do influence the evacuation, including emotions [ 16 ], preparedness [ 17 ], the socio-cultural backgrounds [ 18 ], etc., not to mention the obvious physical characteristics, including age, fitness, gender, etc.…”